Solving A Musician's Tuning Stress

As a musician for 16+ years, I encountered many challenges while learning to play the violin. One of the most frustrating and embarrassing aspects of learning an instrument was learning how to tune it. As a child, I was given a few tools to experiment with but none compare to PitchPerfect Tuning Software.

I started out with a pitch pipe, which was really more like a quiet whistling toy than an aid for tuning my instrument. It was especially difficult to use, because one must simultaneously blow into the pipe, play a soft smooth note and adjust the violin pegs to tighten or loosen the strings accordingly - all at the same time. This tuning approach was incredibly time consuming and somewhat inaccurate. I would typically give up after struggling with this method for about 5 minutes and proceed to play my violin in tune or not; much to the dismay of the audience who suffered through concerts.

My next tool was an electronic tuner, which was a pretty nifty device. You fed it a couple of AA's, bowed across the strings softly and it showed little indicator lights telling you when you were too sharp or flat. It was a nice enough contraption, but I'm sure you can see where the problems began when the batteries would wither. The machine would gradually begin to point you in the wrong direction and your strings would no longer match up with the person in the chair next to you. Eventually the poor gadget would cease to work altogether and it would OF COURSE happen to be on the day of a big competition or a show and you would flit about minutes before stage time, begging everyone nearby for their tuning device (heaven forbid they still used a pitch pipe; sharing spit with strangers is never pleasant) and frantically tune yourself before going on stage.

As you can tell, it was very stressful growing up in the age before laptop computers and smart phones, but now it's as simple as a quick (and free!) download to my iPhone and laptop and I have an easy and accurate way to get my violin in tune wherever I may go. The PitchPerfect Instrument Tuner has a clean interface and easy-to-read note identification that comes in handy not only for tuning, but perfecting and identifying individual notes.

If you like PitchPerfect, you should try out TempoPerfect metronome software and our other software for musicians, so you never miss a beat.

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Tell Us What You Think

AppleRepo recently posted a user review of our Free PitchPerfect Tuning Software, written by Oswaldo Suástegui. The article focused on PitchPerfect for the iPhone, but PitchPerfect is also available for Windows, Mac and Pocket PC mobile devices. Read Suástegui's complete PitchPerfect User Review to learn why he prefers PitchPerfect to some of the other guitar tuning applications he has tried.

We enjoy hearing about what our users think and how they use our products so much that I wanted to make it easier for you share your experiences. Today I gave our blog a little face lift and added the Contact Form so that you have an easier way to get in touch with us. Use the contact form to let us know what you think about NCH applications, to share your stories and experiences, to contact us about guest posting about software, suggest topics for us to post about, or about putting together a case study. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Do More with Audio - Blog Carnival August 2, 2010

Welcome to the August 2, 2010 edition of Do More with Audio.


Jack Josey presents How to Sound Like a Pro When Podcasting posted at Audio Production Advice.

How To Record Better Bass posted at podcomplex.

Mike Ross presents The 12 Greatest Costumed Rock Bands Ever posted at Star Costumes Blog, saying, "Rock and Roll has had its share of larger than life characters. Some were born with an innate charisma that just demanded attention. Other artists fully embraced rock and roll’s shared sense of rebellion and theater to create new personas through costume."

Phil Lopez presents Top 10 Christian Hymns of All-Time posted at Christian Colleges and Universities.

Collecting Vinyl Records posted at Recording Video.

peterselby7 presents Jun 30, Used Audio Cables, a great way to save. The Best Speaker Wire and Audio Cable posted at Home Speaker Blog.

You might also be interested in:

• Make your own Glee Music Mash-up
  
• Digitize Your Vinyl Record Collection
  
• PitchPerfect Guitar Tuning Software for Musicians Now Available for the iPhone
  
• TempoPerfect Metronome Software is Now an iPhone App
  
• Zulu Virtual DJ Software New Mac Version
  

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Do More With Audio using our carnival submission form.

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PitchPerfect Guitar Tuning Software for Musicians Now Available for the iPhone

Before you can practice or perform, you have to make sure your instrument is in tune. PitchPerfect is an easy-to-use, free guitar tuner that makes tuning easy, and is now available as an iPhone app, joining the Windows, Mac, Pocket PC and SmartPhone versions that continue to be available as free downloads from NCH Software.

While PitchPerfect Tuning Software is great for guitar players, it also includes presets for tuning cello, double bass, fiddle, mandolin, ukulele, viola and violin. Most instruments have several tunings available, so no matter which stringed instrument you play or what style of music, you will know your instrument is in tune. Simply play the string you want to tune to see if you are sharp, flat, or in perfect pitch.

And if you like PitchPerfect, we hope you check out our other software for musicians, including TempoPerfect Metronome Software—also available as an NCH iPhone app.

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